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Friday, January 15, 2016

Restaurant review: The Egg Factory - Bangalore, India

i
So, my extended India trip has finally come to an end. After being amidst close family and friends for so long, we are back to being a family of four in Singapore. It is a bittersweet feeling as it always is following a trip back home 😐

I feel like I have completely forgotten how to cook (seriously!). After being fed well and looked after by mum and MIL, it is a little disheartening to realize that now that responsibility towards my family rests on my shoulders. Ho-hum! On the bright side, I got to dine at some good restaurants during my stint in Bangalore so I do have some review material to keep me occupied outside of my routine chores 😛

In this world, there are vegetarians, non-vegetarians and a third category of people in the grey area who can be labelled as 'eggetarians'. I personally know quite a few people who are egg-obsessed (myself included!). When it comes to eggs, my gluttony knows no bounds! I can incorporate this sunny spheroid into my diet every single day without getting sick of it. You know how I always say that I love breakfast for dinner (or brinner as it is called). Well....eggs have a major role to play in that statement!

Eggs feature in almost all cuisines from across the world. If you think about it, eggs not only appear on the menu of most cuisines but also are used at different meal occasions because of their versatility. The resultant plethora of choices facing an egg connoisseur is nothing short of inspiring. I personally think a restaurant featuring an egg-based menu is an (EGG)cellent concept! 👍

The Egg Factory brings to you a range of popular egg dishes from India and across the globe. This is an all-day diner serving eggs in various forms such as omelettes, frittatas, scrambled egg variants, french toasts, curries, sandwiches, pastas, flatbread, biryani and desserts. Some dishes have names that could be real tongue twisters! The people behind the restaurant decided to keep it simple and use recipes that they could replicate with some degree of authenticity based on familiar cooking methods and easily available ingredients. That mantra led to a egglicious menu which has simple yet hearty dishes.

Me and my hubby sauntered over to the nearest branch of The Egg Factory to us which is located at RMV 2nd stage. We visited the same restaurant for brunch on two different occasions.

The outside looks quite ordinary (more like someone's house rather than a restaurant) and tracking it down might be a task it itself but the inside is nice and cozy.

The restaurant offers a casual and relaxed ambience. The space is small but it has a cheery vibe. The interiors have somewhat of an industrial look with metal parts, wood benches, green glass bottles used as accents, yellow and black 'barricade tape' on the walls, a wrench like door knob, brick-like flooring, bright red AC duct and a painted black ceiling peppered by spotlights.

You can leave a message if you like!

The clever and creative menu is impressive with various sections such as Eggxpectations, Eggsamplers, Eggxamples, Eggxotica, Oyako Dishes & Eggxistential Desserts. There are two more sections called Eggucation (explaining the benefits of eggs) and Eggxplanations (explaining various signs and symbols seen throughout the restaurant) that provide for additional fun reading. There is a small section for non-egg eating vegetarians called 'Vegg Many Ways' as well.

With so many options, you will be spoilt for choices! I took a good 15 minutes to carefully scan the menu before making up my mind on what to order.

Check out the dishes we chose to start our day with 💪Morning Burst

A pick-me up concoction of banana & orange juice with yoghurt and milk.

Nice enough but nothing special to write home about.

Chlorophyll Fix

We ordered the Chlorophyll Fix on our second visit which was a sweet soda-based drink with the fresh bright flavours of basil and mint.

I found it light and refreshing. Forgot to snap a picture though!Mota Special

This dish had runny scrambled eggs in a masala base served alongside toast and butter on the side. This humble dish was unexpectedly delicious. This one packs a punch and grows on you with every bite. Although it was served with three pieces of toast, it could easily do with four (we requested for an extra piece).

This would undoubtedly rank as one of my favourite dishes on the menu. Highly recommended!

Kejriwal

I have no idea what the deal is with the name of this dish but it turned out to be a crisp buttered toast topped with a 'masalafied fried egg'. The dish had a nice runny egg and the chopped tomatoes and chilli made for good textural elements.

There was nothing extraordinary about this dish but it was still quite good.

Bun Masala

This dish looked good and tasted even better! It had flavorful masala scrambled eggs served on a soft bun. This dish brought on a strong sense of nostalgia, especially for my hubby. Being a native of Manipal (that applies to both of us) and having studied there, bread masala and bun masala have a special place in his heart (and stomach!). But he did reminisce that the bun in Manipal used to be slightly sweeter and the overall dish less oily so he preferred the one there. To me it didn't matter that much and I felt it was delicious even so.

This would be one among my favourite dishes I sampled at The Egg Factory. A big thumbs up!

Fajita

This dish arrived with two tortillas served alongside scrambled eggs with mushroom, red bell peppers & tomatoes, two dips and cooked mixed veggies. The eggs were really tasty and I wouldn't have minded more of it. I didn't care much for the dips though. The veggies were nice enough.

On the whole, this dish was okay.

Shakshuka

Shakshuka as I know it is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, and onions, often spiced with cumin. It is believed to have a Tunisian origin. Usually served in a skillet, it looks very appetizing and I had a preconceived notion of how it would look.

At The Egg factory, the shakshuka is served on a plate with flour tortillas. The presentation of this dish appeared lacklustre but the flavour was pretty good (albeit considerably Indianized). It was slightly oily but yummy enough to make me overlook that little detail.

This would serve as an ideal breakfast/brunch dish during the cold winter months.

Baida Roti

This dish touted as a Mumbai street food favourite consists of an egg roti stuffed with spiced potato and served with green chutney. There is a chicken version also available on the menu. Although I cannot comment on the latter, the spiced potato version was a let down. There was nothing special about this dish. I couldn't even taste the egg in it.

I definitely won't be ordering this again.

Cilantro Chilly Sauce Frittata
I make frittatas at home on a regular basis so I was looking forward to this one.

This particular frittata had potato & zucchini topped with a green cilantro chilly sauce and was served alongside toasted bread. The frittata appeared more like an omelette rather than a frittata so no points on authenticity. Apart from being rather thin, it didn't have much flavour to speak of.

Mediocre at best.

French Toast With Cream Cheese & Maple Syrup

This dish looked quite appealing when it was set in front of us. There was a nice sear on the thick slices of bread but it wasn't sweet enough for me even with the maple syrup. Methinks a dusting of powdered sugar would have elevated it a notch.

It is a good thing that the maple syrup is served on the side rather than drizzled over the french toast which prevents it from getting soggy.

French Toast With Cream Cheese, Maple Syrup & Blueberry Preserve

This dish was far better than just the french toast with cream cheese sans the blueberry preserve. Even though I don't have a sweet tooth, I do not like dishes that are supposed to be sweet to cut back on the sweetness. The blueberry preserve provided that delightful burst of sweetness, balanced the cream cheese and received a unanimous stamp of approval.

Recommended!

i
We had a pleasant time at the Egg Factory on both occasions and we will probably patronise this restaurant again. This is a casual no-frills restaurant that you can just chill in with family or friends. I felt like I could just walk in there in my PJs and no one would care! Coming to the food, there are some dishes that really stand out and others that are forgettable. Since there are so many novel dishes to choose from, I would highly recommend sharing so you could get a little bit of everything. I would like to go back to try the Southwestern Frittata, the Egg Chilli and the Huevos Supremo. Overall, the food is reasonably good and this restaurant can be considered a haven for the for the egg-obsessed. I found the service to be extremely efficient. The prices are very affordable so don't worry about burning a hole in your wallet!

I think this restaurant could be the ideal haunt for breakfast and brunch. I would recommend this place for couples, families & groups of friends.